Daily Devotional

October 9

Twilight: He Makes the Difference

Isaiah's God is the Holy One of Israel. In God's presence we have to be morally clean. God has chosen his Servant, who will rule in righteousness in a kingdom of peace.

Bible Reading:

Isaiah 8:11–15

Bible Text:

"Do not fear what they fear.... The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear" (Isa. 8:12–13).

Devotional:

"God's strong hand was upon me," says Isaiah. His life had been touched by God, and he had been called to speak for the Lord.

All of us who have been called and touched by God live our lives under the firm pressure of his hand. Don't try to shake it off. Let God set your agenda. Fear him and love him above all. And try to keep everything in the right perspective.

"Do not fear what they fear." People who do not know the reality we know live with their own anxieties. But we should not get carried away with the panic of the times. Neither our worries nor our hopes are dictated by newspapers or medical bulletins. We fear God. That is to say, our greatest concern is that we do not sin against him.

Too often the world sets the agenda of the church. The news media focus on one problem, and in no time "everybody is talking about it." Our mass culture teaches us all to desire the same thing and to fear what everybody fears. And suddenly the church, too, is on the bandwagon.

Personally and together we must set our agenda by the priorities God teaches us. God's hand is on us, and we must give him the place he demands. We should not rest until our communities set their agendas by the vision of the coming kingdom.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this edition of Twilight are from the New International Version